The death of the mobile phone tower?

Eaten by pregnant lamppost

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The attractions of femtocells to mobile operators are obvious and many.

Femtocells help the "Bellheads" head off the "netheads", with their open IP-based networks, at the pass. If you have broadband, then you may also have Wi-Fi in your home. And if you have Wi-Fi, you're a short step from having free or low-cost calls that bypass the carrier's network using a VoIP service. It's the same rationale in the office, where WLANs are common.

However, if the carriers can persuade us to take a femtocell, they can keep us on their networks and get us transactional or subscriber services, like music and shopping, that increase their revenues.

That's fine and dandy for them, since we're already paying for the broadband and electricity, the operating costs of the last mile. So what's in it for us, apart from improved cellphone coverage?

Fortunately, the pricing and services that go with your femtocell have yet to be determined – so a lot depends on the feedback we give the operators in the next 12 months.

With Sprint's femtocell deployment in rural parts of the USA, users must pay $49.99 for the box, and are offered lower tariffs. Anecdotally, we've heard that femtocell trialists are reportedly chuffed with the improved voice quality. But that only works if your mobile coverage is sketchy and there isn't a clear competitor who can offer a better service.

But the femtocell trials suggest that users really should start to hammer the network hard on data services.

For example, they start watching TV clips on handsets, which they won't do elsewhere, streaming music, or downloading MP3s. Again this is good news for both operators and handset manufacturers.

So what we get depends on where you live – and what kind of bargain you're prepared to drive. Since the gains are evidently for the suppliers, perhaps it's time to start thinking bolshy. In Europe, where coverage is generally excellent, free calls at home should be the least we settle for.

Which leaves one big question. What will "Mothers Against Masts" fret about now, as they drive their 4x4s to the recycling centre to do penance? Answers on a postcard, please.